"Paranoia strikes deep..." that's a bit of lyric from a hit song entitled "For What It's Worth," by the group Buffalo Springfield in the 1960's.
But it popped into my head the other day in talking to an acquaintance of mine, who advised me in a grave tone that the "real" reason the government is requiring those turned-in clunkers to be disabled, rather than resold, is that "they" want to get people into newer cars. Why? Because newer cars contain technology that allows "them" to track your movements, or even to completely shut down your car and immobilize you whenever "they" want.
A year ago, I would never have thought of this person as a paranoid nut case. She seemed a "normal" person, the sort you might meet anywhere: the barista at Starbucks, the guy who sits in the cubicle next to you at work, the plumber, the car salesman, your uncle. But in the course of the past year, the spying car isn't the only wild, paranoid theory she's mentioned. "They" engineered the financial crisis in order to take more of people's money;"they" are going to tax everyone based on their carbon footprint; and of course, "they" are secretly planning to turn America into a socialist country.
Well, as the song also says, "it starts when you're always afraid," and many people are afraid these days. Economic uncertainty breeds fear, and there are lots of charlatans seeking to stoke that fear, exacerbate it, and turn it to their political, economic, or social advantage. My source, a person I don't know well enough to discuss these ideas in depth with, left a rental apartment and bought a home about 18 months ago, just in time to see its value drop by (probably) 30% or more below what she paid. Thus the uncertainty and fear. In addition, she seems to be a bit isolated and spends a lot of time on the web. She is one such individual but there are many others.
The deleterious effect of the internet, where "information" is so widely available, is that anyone can put anything on a website. (Hey, I can even put my ridiculous opinions out there for people to read.) And when times are bad, too many otherwise responsible people are either unable or unwilling to assess the reliability of internet sources. They'll accept whatever blather seems to provide an explanation for their troubles; and there are far too many irresponsible demagogues ready to provide it.
[Note: Buffalo Springfield was fairly short-lived as a group but is worth remembering as the springboard for the careers of Neil Young and Stephen Stills, among others.]
If you are one of those people over 50 who grew up thinking that America was number 1 in everything (we're not), that we win all wars (we didn't), that demographics about race and religion would not change in your lifetime (they are), and that there was no chance of another Great Depression (we came damn close), then you can easily feel threatened. When you add to this mix, a constant fear mongering and stream of misinformation by right wing nut jobs on Fox News and talk radio, is there any wonder that some people believe we are all going to hell in a handbasket? For my part, I tell my friends who have gone off the deep end - have faith in your Constitution and focus on real issues, not boogeymen. I try to answer crazy statements with civility but firmness. Fear is a tough enemy.
Posted by: Joseph Lott | August 13, 2009 at 09:04 AM